This invention relates generally to a dispensing device and particularly to a device for dispensing a single coffee filter from a nested stack of coffee filters stored in the device.
As is known, various coffee making devices make use of a filter through which the brewed coffee passes to prevent grounds from passing through. Typically, such coffee filters are made of fibrous paper in the shape of a truncated cone. They are sold in nested stacks. When the user wishes to obtain a single filter, it is difficult to separate one filter because the filters tend to adhere to each other. Furthermore, after the packaging holding the filters is opened, the filters are exposed to dirt and dust. Thus dispensers have been provided to enable the user to store the coffee filters in a clean environment and to obtain a single filter at a time, as desired.
For example, in U.S. Letters Pat. No. 4,805,801 (Knopf) there is disclosed a package of coffee filters having a filter dispenser. The filters are stacked upside-down and a spring is used to urge the filters upwards, so that the bottom of the top-most filter presses against an adhesive material located on the inside of the lid. When the hinged lid is pivoted to open the container, the single filter which adhered to the inside of the lid is peeled off the adhesive by the user for disposition in the coffee maker.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,676,396, (Mamolou), there is disclosed a filter housing which can store a plurality of filters with a combination cover and extractor. The extractor comprises a set of spring biased tongs. An adhesive material is located on the bottom of the tongs. A spring is placed below the filters to urge the filters upward against the bottom of the tongs. When the user wishes to extract a single filter, the handles of the tongs are pressed together which causes the adhesive material at the bottom of the tongs to move together, trapping the topmost filter. The lid is then removed and the filter adhering to the bottom of the tongs is removed from the tongs and placed into the coffee maker.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,629,092, (English), a coffee filter dispenser which uses a biased rotating arm with an adhesive at one end is disclosed. A handle projecting through the hinged lid of the dispenser enables the user to rotate the arm so that the adhesive material presses against the side of the innermost filter. Opening the container by lifting the hinged lid makes a single filter available to the user.
In U.S. Pat. No. 4,905,870, (Mamolou) there is disclosed a dispenser having a housing and unitary inverted V-shaped mechanism with adhesive material at the open ends thereof. The mechanism serves to extract a single filter at a time from the filter housing. The V-shaped end of the mechanism extends beyond the lid sufficiently so that the user can press its two sides together to pinch against the bottom of the topmost filter.
While the devices disclosed in the foregoing patents are generally suitable for there intended purposes, they nevertheless leave much to be desired for various reasons. For example, the dispensers of Mamolou and English and other known coffee filter dispensing and storage devices have extraction means which extend beyond the level of the lid of the device. Thus, they are wasteful with regard to storage and packing for shipment because the devices cannot be stacked upon each other and require larger boxes for shipment which requires more space. Furthermore, when used at the coffee making machines, it is not possible to place other objects on top of the dispenser.
Another shortcoming of existing devices is that they do not make provisions for mounting the container on a side wall, or upside-down, or beneath a counter or shelf. Also, removing or rotating the lid to open the housing would result in some or all of the filters spilling out of the container, when mounted sideways or upside-down. Moreover, many of the prior art devices make use of complex and/or expensive filter dispensing mechanisms.